Eric Pinkins, who had his first career interception, celebrates with his defense after another stop during San Diego State’s home opener win against Army. Earnie Grafton • U-T

The San Diego State defense came out tough against Army, focused and ready to get to work from first snap.

The result was impressive.

In a 42-7 win, the Aztecs held the Black Knights’ normally dominant triple option offense scoreless for an entire half.

Notably, it was the first time a San Diego State defense had shut out a team in the first half since Sept. 25, 2010, when the Aztecs went into halftime leading 28-0 against Utah State.

Until Army finally scored in the third quarter, San Diego State’s defense had not allowed a point in 16 possessions — that number dates back to the latter part of the Washington game last week, when the defense finally came alive after a lackluster first half.

“I thought the defense played really, really well,” SDSU coach Rocky Long said. “To control a wishbone team like that, you don’t see that very often.”

Linebacker Josh Gavert, and defensive back Eric Pinkins each recorded their first career interceptions, and safety Nat Berhe had a career-high 14 tackles.

“(We) just have to give a bunch of credit to coach Long and the defensive scheme they planned,” Berhe said. “We went out and executed how we were supposed to.

“We wish we’d shut them out, but you have to give all respect to Army. They’re a great team. I just think we came to play and were physical.”

To try to get the Aztecs to start out sharper, Long said he switched up the team’s pregame routine.

“We warmed up differently than we have in the past. A lot more team stretching. Basically what we did was warm up like how we do in practice,” Long said.

Did it help?

“To be honest with you, I don’t think it made a difference,” Long said. “I think our players were ready to play, and I thought they played very, very well. They decided to be physical and flew around.

“We’re not near as good as we’re gonna be, but that’s a good start.”

No chart talk

After going 2-of-3 on fourth-down conversions against Washington last week, the Aztecs stayed conventional against Army on Saturday. They did not attempt any two-point conversions, and they never went for it on fourth down.

That doesn’t mean the “go-for-it” chart is a thing of the past, but Long didn’t want to talk about it much either after the game.

When asked if he’d used the chart at all, Long said, “We had the chart with us, and we did. And I’m not going to talk about it any more. It takes away from the game.”

Specialist stats

True freshman Seamus McMorrow saw his first collegiate game action against Army. McMorrow kicked off and handled punts for the Aztecs, averaging 36.5 yards per punt, and 62.6 yards per kickoff.

“I thought our kickoffs were a little short early. Our coverage was good, but I thought we could cover the last couple of kickoffs a little better,” Long said. “The punting game was fine.”

The kicking game wasn’t quite as satisfactory.

Former SDSU soccer player Chance Marden was 6-of-6 on extra points, but missed field goals of 37 and 40 yards in his football debut.